


From Far Away

by FailWhale



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, F/M, Jelsa canon in-work, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Janna, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24385207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FailWhale/pseuds/FailWhale
Summary: Anna’s been in love with Jack for a while. Even before Elsa started dating him. She missed her chance, and now she watches from a distance. But she dreams every day that maybe someday, she could be happy with him. High school AU.
Relationships: Anna (Disney)/Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood), Elsa (Disney)/Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood)
Kudos: 24





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> small series of drabbles. hope you enjoy.

Anna was walking down the hallway, books in hand. She was thinking about when she’d have time to finish her English assignment when she saw him.

His name was Jack Frost. Short white hair, brilliant blue eyes, and a deep blue hoodie with cascading snow-like designs from the shoulders down. He was the baddest of boys, one who donned black leather jackets and rode a motorcycle, a complete and utter rebel, a cause notwithstanding.

At least, that’s what she imagined as she walked by. He was really a dorky guy with a nice smile and a kind heart. He grinned at her and she managed a small smile in return. Her smile faltered for a split second, having seen the person interlocking arms with Jack.

Elsa. Her sister. Elsa waved at Anna and Anna grinned back. She turned away, her arm falling limply to the side as she wondered what life would be like if she hadn’t missed her chance.


	2. Pain

She hadn’t always felt this way. She used to be happy for her sister, happy that Elsa, who had been lonely for so long, had found someone to be with. Even if it was the person Anna fell in love with long before Elsa did.

Now it hurt to see them holding hands. It hurt to see them spending time together. It hurt to see them kiss. Everything hurt, at the risk of sounding redundant. Her head in particular. Ouch. What happened?

“Anna, are you okay?!” said Tiana as she rushed over. Anna groaned, picking herself up off the gym floor. She turned to see a volleyball rolling away from her. So that’s what happened.

“Yeah… I’m fine,” said Anna, grumbling.

Yeah. Everything hurt.


	3. Study Session

Anna bit the end of her pencil as she worked on her Geometry homework in the living room of her house. She didn’t exactly have trouble with math; it was more that it took her awhile to get the ball rolling. She looked at the clock. 5:30 PM. It was about time for Elsa to get home.

She heard keys jangling from the front room, and the front door opening. She stood up and walked over to the hallway, talking as she did so.

“Hey Elsa, what are we gonna have for dinner tonight? We got that soup the other day and I found a recipe online, so maybe-”

Anna stopped as she saw Jack. He smiled and waved, Anna returning the gesture with a pang in her heart.

“Hi Anna, sorry I didn’t let you know,” said Elsa. “Jack and I are gonna be studying tonight.”

“That’s fine, I’ll just order a pizza for all of us. It’s easy,” said Anna, shrugging. “We can put different toppings on halves and stuff.” Anna began walking back to her seat in the living room.

“Oh, if it isn’t too much trouble, could I get-” Jack began to ask.

“Olives and extra pepperoni, I know,” said Anna. 

_It’s your favorite_ , she thought to herself.


	4. Work

“Anna!” said Tiana, slamming her hand on the counter.

“Gah! Sorry!” said Anna, her face turning bright red. She brought the customer’s latte over and apologized for the wait.

“What’s gotten into you, girl?” Tiana’s face shifted from annoyance to concern.

“N-nothing, Tia,” said Anna. “Just got distracted is all.”

Anna wasn’t lying. She had started thinking about Jack studying with Elsa. He had been coming over more often recently, and it was starting to grate on Anna’s nerves.

“Hey there, pigtails,” came a familiar voice from the cafe entrance. Jack.

“Hey snowman,” said Anna with a smile on her face and a scream on the inside. “The usual?” she asked.

“Yes please,” said Jack, sitting down at his corner table and pulling out his schoolwork.

Anna bit her lip as she prepared his coffee. Tiana looked at her, then lightly shook her head with a frown. The only reason that Anna had taken this job was because Jack was a regular. This was before she had missed her chance. Before Elsa was with him. Now they were short on staff, so it didn't feel right quitting.

Anna gazed at him as the water boiled. 

He bit his pencil too.


	5. Past

Anna had known Jack for about a year when he had broken up with his girlfriend Vanessa. It wasn’t a good relationship, but he felt like it was all he had. Anna was always there to comfort him during that adjustment period after he left Vanessa. She did want to be with him, but that wasn’t the reason. First and foremost, she wanted to be a good friend.

About a month later, she and Jack went to go watch a movie. Elsa had tagged along because Anna had bugged her to; she had been studying for days and Anna wanted her to get out of the house. Elsa and Jack hit it off right away, and Anna felt something she had never felt before.

She felt threatened. 

She immediately shook away the feeling; it was her sister, after all. If anything, she’d be happy if Elsa and Jack got together. Her sister would have someone special and she’d get to see Jack more often. 

Turns out, that’s exactly what happened. She didn’t feel the pit in her stomach until a month or two afterwards, but it eventually came and grew into what was sitting inside of her at this moment. She wondered what might have happened if she talked to Jack before he met Elsa. How different things might’ve been.

All she knew for certain was that she had her chance, and she had missed it.


	6. Invitation

“Hey pigtails!” said Jack, approaching Anna in the cafeteria. She had been sitting alone at a corner table.

“Oh, hey snowman,” said Anna, smiling at Jack. “What brings you to the lonely corner of Corona’s cafeteria?”

“So, I got this huge test coming up next Tuesday and I feel like I’m really psyching myself out about it.”

“Uh huh,” said Anna. Some things never changed.

“I was wondering, would you mind if I came over tomorrow just to hang out and blow off some steam? Feels like we haven’t done that in forever, and I feel like it might calm me down a bit.”

Anna was the one who scheduled all the hangouts. She slowly asked him less and less until she stopped altogether. It hurt too much.

“Mmm I don’t know… I have my own assignments that I gotta…” she stopped as she saw Jack’s expression. “You know what? Why not? Sounds like it’ll be fun,” she said.

“Alright! I’ll swing by with some pizza at around 6, it’ll be great!” Jack hurried back across the cafeteria.

Anna sighed, holding her head in her hands.

Maybe it won’t be all bad. Maybe she could try to get some closure.


	7. Nothing's Wrong

Anna lied down next to Jack on her bed.

“We haven’t hung out like this in a while, huh?” she said.

“Nah, we haven’t. It’s nice to get back into it,” said Jack, who was sitting up. He threw the remains of the pizza box into the trash can Anna had in her room; they had devoured the contents in a good half hour before playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for a while.

“Hey, Jack?”

“What is it, pigtails?”

“You ever think about, like… what it’d be like if things turned out differently?” said Anna.

“What do you mean?” Jack looked confused. Anna suddenly felt very cold and very hot at the same time.

“Oh, I don’t know… like… what if you started dating somebody else before you met Elsa? Stuff like that,” she said.

“Heh, I doubt it,” said Jack. Anna sat up.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, just. I wasn’t interested in dating anyone until I met your sister.” Jack smiled. The stone in Anna’s stomach grew heavier in an instant.

“No one? No one at all…?” Anna’s voice grew quieter.

“Nope. She was really the first person I could see myself being with after what happened with Vanessa.”

No one.

“Anna?”

Not even her.

“Anna?”

But, she cared about him so much. So how…?

“Anna!”

Anna snapped back to reality. Jack’s hands were on her shoulders, and he looked concerned.

“Wh-what is it?” she said, her voice breaking.

“What’s wrong, Anna? What happened?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Anna had just noticed the tears falling down her face.

“There has to be something, otherwise-”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said again.


	8. Discovery

“Wait, so what happened?” asked Elsa.

“I don’t know! We were having a good time playing Mario Kart, then we started talking and out of nowhere she just started crying,” said Jack, clearly confused.

“What were you two talking about?”

“She asked if I ever thought about things turning out differently.”

“Things turning out differently?” It was Elsa’s turn to look confused.

“Yeah. She asked…”

“What?”

“She asked if I ever thought about what things would’ve been like if I dated someone else before you. It was really weird,” he said. Elsa continued to look confused, then realization dawned on her. “What, what is it?” asked Jack.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Great, that’s exactly what she said too…” said Jack, looking a bit frustrated. More at himself than anyone else.

_Oh, Anna_ … Elsa thought to herself, her shoulders sinking slightly as she looked at the ground.


	9. Questions

Anna was sitting next to the apple tree in the backyard, face buried in her knees. She could hear the sliding glass door open, soft footsteps following behind.

Elsa sat down next to her, mirroring her seated position. She turned to look at Anna.

“How long?” she asked.

Anna took a bit of time to answer.

“A little after he and I met.” Her voice was quiet.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“He was with someone and… it just didn’t feel right talking about it then. And when he broke up with Vanessa, I wanted to be a good friend first. After what happened with Hans,” Anna’s voice trailed off.

Elsa turned away for a moment or two. “Hans” was a name that they rarely mentioned.

“I know what it’s like to be with someone manipulative a-and conniving, and… all of that. I figured he would need a longer adjustment period like I did. But…”

“He didn’t,” said Elsa.

“Yeah. He didn’t.” Anna sniffled.

Elsa took a few moments before saying anything.

“You know, if you said anything, I would’ve-”

“I know. That’s why I didn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” said Elsa, not knowing what else to say.

“Don’t be.”

Elsa began to stand up, then she felt Anna’s hand grab her arm.

“Sorry… can you,” said Anna, “stay for a little?”

Elsa smiled, sadness visible in her eyes.

“Sure.”


	10. Answers

“Aaand that’s basically everything,” said Anna, standing with her arms behind her back.

Jack was silent for a bit, his eyes wide and his brow furrowed.

“You gonna say anything, snowman?” asked Anna.

“Y-yeah, it’s just-” Jack exhaled before continuing. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“It was a lot to put out, too.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Uh. Kinda nervous. Slightly terrified. But I also feel a little relieved.” Anna looked at Jack.

“You know, a couple of things make sense now,” said Jack, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand.

Anna tilted her head, her eyes confused.

“Like when you asked about things being different? I get your reaction now.”

“Oh, right,” said Anna, looking down.

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“For what I said back then. I didn’t really notice at the time, for obvious reasons, but I was kind of a dick with my answer to you,” said Jack. He put his hands in his pockets.

“It’s fine, Jack. You didn’t know.”

“Still. Can you forgive me, Pigtails?” His trademark grin was absent, replaced with a nervous not-quite-smile.

“No,” said Anna, her face expressionless.

Jack looked taken aback.

There were a few moments of silence before Anna suddenly smiled at him.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. So there’s nothing to forgive.”


	11. Greetings

Anna walked alongside Jack and Elsa through the hallways. They talked about the upcoming ASB elections (“Jasmine’s got it in the bag”) as well as the new decorations in the school for the dance next week (“Lottie always goes over the top with them, but they look nice”).

As Anna walked with them, she noticed something. Rather, a lack of something. The pit in her stomach was no longer there. She looked at Jack smiling at Elsa, and instead of feeling something sink, she felt happy.

“Anna?” said Elsa.

“Huh?” said Anna, snapping out of her thoughts.

“Are you okay? I was asking you something.”

“Sorry, was just thinking about something. What’s up?”

“I wanted to know if you’ve seen the transfer student yet.”

“Transfer student?” Anna looked confused.

“Yeah, his name is Kristoff Bjorg-something or other. Scandinavian, I think,” said Jack. “He was in my trig class this morning.”

“Huh… can’t say I have. Maybe I’ll see him around soon,” she said.

“Maybe. See you at lunch?” asked Elsa.

“Mhm!” Anna had started joining Jack and Elsa at lunchtime rather than eating with a group of friends or alone.

Elsa and Jack waved as they continued walking towards their American History class. Anna waved back and turned a corner, not realizing she was in someone’s way. They both fell to the ground, the unknown person dropping all their books.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” said Anna, scrambling to help the stranger. She looked up and caught the sight of messy blond hair and brown eyes. She felt something in her chest.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” said the stranger. He took his books out of Anna’s hands and stretched a hand out to her after standing up.

“I… uh…” Anna stammered before taking a breath and collecting herself. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before! Transfer?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Kristoff. Kristoff Bjorgman.”

“Kristoff, huh?” said Anna. The place where the pit once was now held an old but familiar feeling, one that she once felt with Jack. It was warm.

“Nice to meet you, Kristoff! I’m Anna Arenson. Welcome to Corona High!” she said, stretching out a hand with a bright smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading. hope you enjoyed ^-^


End file.
